Saturday, December 28, 2013

December is here and its ccccold in Michigan, USA. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Winter/ Summer Solstice . Happy Holidays- Peace, prosperity, unity and joy to all. Its been an amazing year. We've traveled all over the USA and Canada, seen some amazing scenery and been fortunate to have had many incredible experiences along the way. Life on the road is certainly never dull!!! During this year we drove through and performed in amongst the incredible red woods of Northern California which were covered in thick white smoke from the wild fires in the Fresno. We experienced a blizzard in Fargo, North Dakota and were snowed in for a few days earlier in the year and had to make the mammoth drive from Fargo to Key Largo, Florida in 2 and a half days!!! We all lost money in Reno, Nevada LOL but it was fun!!! . In northern Michigan we saw black bears, wolves, turkey vultures and bald eagles. In New Brunswick, Canada we saw some amazing countryside, got to speak a little French in Quebec but no Moose to be seen, despite the many traffic sign warnings. We had a very successful Kickstarter program and Motor City Josh and I released our first acoustic CD "Bare Bones" together and had a very successful 18 show / 19 day tour. I got to jam with Walter Trout, Anthony Gomes, Sab and the Family Band, Scott Holt plus many more. Bobbi and I also took our "Australian Didge-ucation" presentation nationwide. We performed over 200 shows this year and covered nearly 70 000 miles. One of the main highlights of the year was performing to our special needs Kids at The Buckingham Exceptional Student Center in Fort Myers, Florida. Such a beautiful experience to see and feel the joy of these wonderful children. It is such a privilege to have the opportunity to do this. Also a special mention to my good buddy Justin Brown who presented me with a musicianship award in late October in Indiana. Thanks Brother!!!

The tour with Motor City Josh was an absolute blessing. Apart from being an amazing guitarist, he is also a great guy and has become a good friend. The shows were so much fun everywhere we played. There will definitely be another tour later in 2014, cause lets face it - we just had the best time working together. A big thank you to my band "Midwest Kind". We will be performing our last show for the year at The Avenue Cafe in Lansing, Michigan on Sunday December 29th. So come on down Michigandas!!!

Due to immense pressure from our New England fans, we have put together a tour to Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine for the last week of April, 2014. So New Englanders, please spread the word for us, because if it works out well, we will make this trip more often.

Thank you for the incredible support through out the year. Hope to see you out on the road this winter!!! May 2014 be the best year yet!!!!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween!!! Well the new "Bare Bones" acoustic blues CD by Motor City Josh and myself was released on Tuesday October 29th woohoo!!!. For those who would like to purchase the CD it is available on the Harper website: www.harper.biz Just click on the CD and away you go. $15 and no charge for shipping within the US. $20 for outside the US. I'll even sign it for ya!

October was a crazy busy month with a three week tour to Florida, Upstate New York , Canada then finishing off in Michigan. Our shows at The Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda , Florida were fabulous as always. Also the amazing Bradfordville Blues Club in the wild woods of Tallahassee was fun and Aces Lounge, was yet another fine time had by all. Our visit to the special needs kids at The Buckingham Exceptional Student Center was, as always, the highlight of our week. Bobbi and I also visited Lori in Punta Gorda and gave her the full didgeridoo sound therapy treatment to help her deal with her chemo. It was such a positive experience, we hope to do more in the future. Englewoods on Dearborn was a lot of fun- a stunning out door venue. Then it was over to the East side of the Florida for the fabulous Daytona Blues Festival. What an amazing festival!! Set in a baseball park, there was a huge stage and covered seating for all. Though no one needed it because the sun was a shinning. It was my birthday that day as well and it was super cool to hear the entire crowd sing me "Happy Birthday". After the show we headed to the incredible Guanabanas then we drove down south to picturesque Key Largo for the Bayside Grille. We were treated to a stunning Key Largo sunset and a large crowd of music fans.

Then it was drive, drive, drive to upstate New York. But all the miles were worth it once we arrived at The Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester and Syracuse, New York. We chowed down!!!! In fact the whole tour was one of amazing and very filling meals. I had several fabulous birthday homemade dinners (Anne Marie and Mackie), and (Libby and Derek) which culminated in a sushi feast with my wife Bobbi, Dave our drummer, Dave's sister and Derek our bass player. Its amazing we could all fit into the van LOL!!!! After a visit to the Armor Inn in Hamburg, New York we visited the mighty Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. Always an incredible sight to behold, then it was the Dawg House in London, Canada then home to Michigan for a sold out acoustic concert at the Pump House Concerts in East Lansing.

We ended October with an indoor show at The Rathskeller in Indianapolis and then another sold out show at The Lone Oak Vineyard in my hometown, Grass Lake, Michigan!!! What a great month!!!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Autumn is here and our summer festival season has come to a close!!!!. I am very happy to announce that the Harper and Motor City Josh CD and Tour Kickstarter Project has been fully funded. The new "Bare Bones" CD has been pressed and now we are waiting on shirts, stickers and posters to be printed A huge thank you to our amazing backers for this project. We couldn't have done it without you!!!! Motor City Josh and I have a 20 Date December tour with a couple of dates in January, coming up. We are very excited to be working together for the very first time. The release date for the new "Bare Bones" CD is Tuesday October 29. The CD will be available on www.harper.biz plus other online stores.

For our Michiganda followers - our show at The Dawn Theatre in Hillsdale has been rescheduled to Friday January 24.. Our show at Arts Beats & Eats in Royal Oak, Michigan was a lot of fun. We did a completely acoustic show which was very well received. Thanks to all those friends who came down to the show. In early September we headed to Canada for the Southside Shuffle in Port Credit, Ontario. We had a great set just before the Down Child Blues Band. Got to meet a bunch of cool folks. Then we made the long drive back over the border to the US to one of our favorite stops- The Timeout Pub in Rockland,Maine. Great to see so many Maine folks dancing all night. The next day we headed back to Canada- this time to Fredericton, New Brunswick for the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival. We drove through some amazing scenery- Northern Maine and New Brunswick is one beautiful part of Northern America. We saw many signs warning us of Moose crossing but unfortunately we didn't get to see a single moose. The festival set was fabulous but the weather was horrible and got worse as the day progressed. Thick lightning streaks filled the sky. Combined with torrential rain ,pretty much kept us in doors for our entire visit. After the festival we headed through Quebec to arrive at Kitchener, Ontario. As we were checking into the Hotel we found out to our dismay that The Victoria Boat House had closed that very day- Friday the 13th-!!!!!!. A real bummer and such a loss to the Kitchener music community. I certainly hope Boat House owner Kevin Doyle can open the doors again very soon. We finished our Canadian tour with an amazing show at Canada South's Blues Museum in Windsor and the Grape Jam in Blenheim. We love the Canada South Blues Society- Ted Boomer and Bernie Martin really put together a great show for us. The Grape Jam was sold out and we had a blast performing to such a nice group of people.

In October we head south to Florida for the Daytona Blues Festival plus a bunch of our favorite clubs then its up to New York State, London Canada then back to Michigan and Indiana.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

My band "Midwest Kind" and I are just back from an amazing tour to Northern California, the UP of Michigan and Wisconsin. We covered thousands of miles and saw some incredible scenery. This trip is one of my favorites because the drive is just so breath taking. I always joke that "Im a truck driver that sings". When you do trips like this, it really does feel like "Im a truck driver that sings" LOL!!!!!. We left on July 31st from Michigan traveling through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, arriving in California three and half days later. We had a stop over in Omaha, Nebraska and Park City, Utah. We arrived late in the evening in Utah. We had booked rooms at a Ski Lodge up in the mountains which had multiple buildings and absolutely terrible customer service. The place was beautiful, but do you think we could find our room!!!. Bobbi and I walked around for over one hour in the dark before we found our room. The customer service person just hang up on Bobbi when she called to get directions. Needless to say we were very upset!!!!. Our show at The Festival of Beers and Bluesapalooza in Mammoth Lakes was amazing!!!. The mountains were completely covered in thick, white smoke caused by a wild fire in Fresno plus it was truly smokin up on stage as well. We played to a huge crowd, and had an absolute ball. It was hard to breathe but the festival goers didn't seem to notice!!!. Ours shows in Sacramento, San Jose and Half Moon Bay were all super cool. Caught up with our good buddy Leslie Maple and her crew. Then it was drive, drive, drive to get to the UP of Michigan. We had a restful stay at good friend Steve Pence's Log Cabin in the mystical woods of Cornell, Michigan. Plus some great shows at Michigan's Blackstone Pizza CO, The Grand Marais Music Festival and Waukesha Blues Festival and The Smiling Moose in Wisconsin. Happy to say we made it back to Michigan safe and sound!!

An update on the "Harper and Motor City Josh new "Bare Bones" CD and Tour" Kickstarter Project. We have 40 wonderful backers who have pledged $2140 towards our goal of $3000 woohoo!!!. We have some great items/ performances and workshops on offer in return for your pledge. The Fundraiser ends on Monday September 2 at 1pm EST. The project only gets funded if we reach the full $3000. With eight days to go, Josh and I feel confident that we will reach our goal. For those interested in backing this new project please go to the Kickstarter link below and sign in to give your pledge. Check out the video, the new tunes and artwork of the CD, the blurb about the project and the bio links.

A huge thank you to our backers for this project. In September we are heading to Ontario/ New Brunswick, Canada and Rockland, Maine plus a few shows in Michigan. Hope to see you out on the road this Fall!!!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Happy Summer! We are currently on tour in amazing California. Some cools things are a happening!! Motor City Josh and I are close to recording our new acoustic blues CD which we plan to call "Bare Bones". We have scheduled to release the CD in late October. The songs are written and the pre production sounds great, with Josh as the engineer, we are sure to have a great sounding CD. We would love to have your support for the recording, promoting, manufacturing and release of this new CD. We have set up a "Kickstarter Project" in order to raise funds for this awesome new CD and tour. We have some great items/performances and workshops on offer in return for your pledge. We plan to raise $3000 to get this project off the ground ! The Kickstarter "Harper & Motor City Josh Barebones CD & Tour Project " has gone live. The Fundraiser goes for 30 days ending on Monday September 2 at 1pm EST. .Just go to the Kickstarter link below and sign in to give your pledge. Check out the video and rough artwork of the CD, the blurb about the project and the bio links.

Our trip home from the amazing Alpena Blues Festival in Michigan in June, was very eventful. We had a turkey vulture nearly hit our van's front window, several deer and their fauns and a wolf cross the road in front of us. To top it off, a large black bear bounded in front of the van. I think we were as scared as he was. Talk about critters gone wild- so amazing to see. We beat the rain at the Rogue River Blues Series in Rockford and the Lowell Summer Concert Series in Michigan in late June. It seemed the storms avoided us where ever we went. The Common Ground Music Festival and Jamming in Jackson were a lot of fun. Midwest Kind and I played to some huge crowds at the fabulous Traverse City Area Blues Festival opening for Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Bluesfest International, in Windsor, Canada. The Windsor Bluesfest was amazing. Apart from our band set to well over 10 000 peeps, I got to play with Scott Holt (former guitarist for Buddy Guy) and Neal and Kirk from Soul Live. The next day I did a workshop with some amazing guitarists from the US and Canada. I played some harp and some slide didgeridoo!!!. Then Sab and the Family Band asked to me play some harp for their whole set late on Sunday afternoon. Good Fun!!!

The last week of July, Bobbi and I headed to Raleigh, North Carolina to present six "Australian Didge-ucation" to Wake County Libraries. The workshops were a huge success and all six we're very well attended. As we speak we are on the road in California for the Mammoth Lakes Bluesapalooza Festival plus some tasty shows in Sacramento, Half Moon Bay and San Jose. Then its the UP of Michigan and Wisconsin. Hope to see you out on the road this summer!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Well Spring is definitely here in the USA. We had the wettest April on record here in Michigan, but now the sun is finally shining. A huge thank you for all the positive comments regarding my mishap with the 100 pound statue back in March. Im glad to report that I am feeling great and looking forward to a crazy Spring and Summer schedule. April was a quiet month, but we were able to rehearse the new band and do a little recording with Motor City Josh. Josh and I will be releasing a traditional acoustic original blues CD in the fall plus we will be doing a two and half week tour in December to coincide with the CD release.

I was nominated for two Detroit Music Awards- Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Recording. Bobbi and I and some good friends went to the awards and had a ball. Talk about hoopla- it was there by the bucket full. TV cameras everywhere, musicians being interviewed plus a fabulous concert at The Fillmore. The vibe was positive and everyone was there to have a great time. I ran into many amazing musicians- Detroit Funky Diva- Thornetta Davis, Bobby Murray, Paul Randolf, Skeeto Valdez plus many more. I didn't win but you know what, it was just amazing to be nominated. Detroit certainly has a vibrant music community and I am very happy to be apart of it. During April, Bobbi and I presented our educational program- "Australian Didge-ucation" at four Michigan libraries http://www.harper.biz/workshops.html . We were very well received and appreciated.

We have an exciting double bill coming up this Friday at The Historic Dawn Theater in Hillsdale, Michigan with Big James and the Chicago Play Boys. This Saturday's show at the Lone Oak Vineyard is sold out. We will head out on tour next week to New York, Ohio and Maryland. Then June will see us touring to Colorado, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi Alabama, Indiana then back to Michigan. We have a bunch of amazing festivals coming up- Western Maryland Bluesfest, Greeley Blues Jam, Colorado, The Riverbend Festival, Chattanooga, TN, Festival South, Mississippi and the Alpena Blues Festival in Michigan

Monday, April 8, 2013

Spring is here! We are gearing up for the summer festival season which will see us traveling all over the USA and Canada. March was an eventful month with an absolutely beyond huge St Patrick's Day week at the amazing Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda, Florida. We performed four shows and everyone was well attended with the biggest show occurring on St Patricks Day. I think this day broke all previous records at The Celtic Ray. Huge congratulations to Kevin and Max Doyle for creating such a great club. For all you Michigandas- there will be a Celtic Ray coming to Michigan this summer, just north of Port Huron. Our shows throughout the Midwest were all fabulous. We visited our good Friends of the Blues at The Bourbonnais Sportman's Club in Bourbonnais in Illinois where we were treated to a didgeridoo duet. Then it was on to our favorite St Louis club- BBS Jazz Blues & Soups. We had a great time at The Muddy Waters in Bettendorf, Iowa and yet another fun show at the Gas Lamp in Des Moines, Iowa. Unfortunately while checking into one of our hotels in Iowa, I accidentally tripped on some carpet. As I stumbled, I crashed into a large one hundred pound bronze statue of a fisherman, which promptly fell right on top of my head. As with most head wounds, blood just about spurted every where. Everyone was so shocked they didn't move, I yelled with pain while cradling my head. Finally one of the hotel staff brought me a towel to mop up the blood. There wasn't any major damage done but I suffered some very severe head aches from that moment on. The general manager of the hotel offered to pay for hospital bills and so forth, which I definitely took him up on. It was such a bizarre accident, no one was to blame. It was just one of those crazy things that can happen whilst on the road. Like a true road warrior I finished the tour with shows at The Trempealeau Hotel in Wisconsin and the Smiling Moose in Newton, Wisconsin. It was when I got home to Michigan, that I realized I needed to take some time off. The Doc told me I was crazy to keep gigging as I had concussion. So I had to cancel the last week of March and the First week of April. I am very sorry for those folks looking forward to these shows but we have rescheduled all cancelled shows for later in the year.

Some of you will notice a new line up for my band "Midwest Kind". I would like to welcome Angelo Santelli on slide guitar/ Dobro, Derek Johnson on Bass Guitar and David Zwolinski on Drums. Bobbi and I wish our road warriors- Chris Smith, Matt Besey and Jamie Taunton all the very best and we thank them for their incredible playing.

For those of you who interested in our free library educational shows called "Australian Didge-ucation" http://www.harper.biz/workshops.html The shows are listed on the tour page on the Harper website . We also have a special dinner and show coming up on Saturday May 11 (Mother's Day Weekend) at the Lone Oak Vineyard in our home town of Grass Lake, Michigan. Reservations are necessary- Please go to the tour page on www.harper.biz for details.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Well February was a wild ride weather wise! After our show at Harbor House in Detroit we headed out on tour for three weeks. We had shows at Goodfellas in Illinois, The 21st Amendment Saloon in Omaha, Nebraska then the fabulous Old Skoolz in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We had relatively warm weather for this time of year and very good turn outs to the shows. We had a few minor vehicle problems- a flat battery one day then the starter motor the next day. But we managed to get where we needed to be. I had a cancel a radio show with DJ Crash for Sioux Falls but apart from that nothing else had to be cancelled. The Fargo Blues Festival in Fargo, South Dakota was a blast. A great crowd attended the Best Western, Double Tree Inn. Got to see Eddy The Chief Clearwater perform, who replaced Magic Slim who unfortunately passed away recently. It was so cool that we all had accommodation there - so no need to drive after the show. It was just as well because later that evening a huge blizzard hit Fargo. The wind howled mournfully and It just snowed and snowed and snowed. It seemed like it would never stop!! We were all locked away in our rooms for and extra day and half and couldn't leave the hotel because the weather was so bad. Interstate Highway 29 was closed due to five foot snow drifts and Interstate 94 wasn't much better. We were freaking out because we had to be in Key Largo, Florida for the following week. Originally we had allowed four days to get there but now it was getting down to two and a half days. Thankfully late Monday afternoon, Interstate 94 open up and we were out of Fargo- heading to Minnesota. It was a scary drive- lots of ice and compacted snow, so I drove slowly and carefully. We made it to Madison, Wisconsin the first day, The second day we rolled into Lake City, Florida and the third day - sunny Key Largo. 32 hours of driving! Talk about extremes. Frigid temperatures in the North to monsoon like conditions in Georgia then a balmy 80 degrees F in Florida. It just goes to show where there is a will, there is a way!

Our Florida shows were fabulous- Bayside Grille in Key Largo- Bobbi was treated to chocolates and a lobster dinner for Valentines Day, then Mangrove Mamas which was rained out but the show still went on. Three amazing shows at The Celtic Ray then our favorite Ace's Lounge and The Legendary Bradfordville Blues Club. We also visited our incredible special needs kids at the Buckingham Exceptional Student Center in Fort Myers. To see the joy on the Buckingham Kids faces is absolutely priceless. We are very blessed to receive such a beautiful experience. We have a couple of shows in Michigan then its back to Florida for St Patrick's Day week then back to the Midwest for two weeks of shows. For those of you who asked here is the correct link for our Australian Didge-ucation Presentation: http://www.harper.biz/workshops.html The shows are listed on the tour page on the Harper website listed below:

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Happy January! The snow is falling in Michigan and the temperature is ccccccold! December was a very quiet month for the band which we all enjoyed after such a busy year. In January we launched into our Acoustic January Tour which really worked out well. Trinity House, a small theatre in Livonia Michigan saw our manager Bobbi Llewellyn's American vocal debut. In Australia Bobbi fronted her own band and for time she sang backup for several of my bands. Then the management thing took over and the singing was pushed to the side. I wrote two songs for her and so we decided to put them into the set. Despite lots of nerves, Bobbi did a great job! We did a short tour through Missouri, Kansas and Illinois, visiting some of our favorite Clubs, BBs, The Trouser Mouse, Uncle Bos and Fat Fish Pub. The weather was stunning and amazingly warm for January.

We were hit with a rude awakening with some freezing temperatures last week in Michigan. The concert series at The Southfield Library was a lot of fun. Followed by an amazing new club in Traverse City called InsideOut Gallery. Just a beautiful sounding listening room. It was such a pleasure to perform in this room. Then we finished off the week with The incredible Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey, Michigan. The weather was treacherous with gusting winds from lake effect snow. We had nearly a full house at the show which just goes to show the folks up in Petoskey love their music. The drive back to the Blissfest band house in Harbor Springs after the show was a trip from hell!! But we made it thanks to some great road directions from Blissfest organizers Jim and Mike and God's will. I got together with Motor City Josh in the studio this month to write some songs. We plan to release a new CD together in a traditional blues vein, which should alot of fun. We will also be putting together some shows. I am also planning to finish an acoustic CD of the band this year as well. So theres lots of cool things happening . Our new drummer Jamie Taunton will be joining the band in February! We finished the month of January at the Blackhawk Jazz & Blues Concerts series in Richland, Michigan. A great crowd full of lots of friends from Kalamazoo who came out to support us despite the snow. We had a special guest Angelo Santelli get up and play some awesome acoustic Dobro.

For those of you who are interested in our didgeridoo/ Australia presentation- which Bobbi and I have called "Australian-Didge-ucation" please check out the new workshop page on the Harper website: www.harper.biz/workshops. There will be quite a few free public shows at various libraries around the country. Please see the schedule at www.harper.biz and click on the tour page. Hope to see you all out on the road,